Black Sabbath Officially Reject Bill Ward

The drummer says he's been officially shut out of negotiations with the band, after months of trying to make a deal.

Posted on May 16, 2012 02:43 pm

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Black Sabbath have officially ended negotiations with founding drummer Bill Ward, four months after he rejected their offer to perform in their reunion.
In a lengthy post on his website, Bill explains that his last-ditch attempts to come to a deal fell flat when the band would only let him join their homecoming show if he played for free.
"It is with a very sad heart that I bring you this news," he wrote. "I am sincerely passionate in my desire to play with the band, and I'm very, very sorry that it's fallen to this. This statement is even more painstaking to write, as I was particularly excited to play alongside [guitarist] Tony Iommi after the recent treatments he underwent." Iommi was diagnosed with cancer in January, shortly after the band announced their reunion.
Bill doesn't want to blame the band for their situation, but defends his choices - even when it hurts to let his fans down:
"Throughout this process, which began over a year ago, I have had to stand up for myself time and time again. I have had to stand up for myself and in doing so realize my actions indirectly, although unintentionally, are upsetting and hurting a lot of you.
"I made a solemn vow after the last European and Ozzfest concerts that I would never again enter into what was, in my opinion, a totally unsatisfactory contract. I have to stand for something, and as painful as it is, I'm doing it."
The letter reveals details of what happened behind-the-scenes since we last reported on their negotiations in February.
In April, Bill was asked to participate "minimally" in their headline slot at Download festival. "I believe I'd been offered no more than three songs to play while another drummer presumably played the rest of the show with Black Sabbath," he wrote.
Bill only heard about their April 30 homecoming show in Birmingham through the Internet at the same time as the fans: "I was upset by the idea that the band was going to play Birmingham and play it assumedly without me. I had no prior knowledge of the date and location, and I felt totally excluded."
Despite keeping his drum crew on standby since mid-January, Bill was told by the band's lawyers that he could "come to the UK, play for free and see how the first show goes."
"I was tempted," wrote Bill, but it wasn't enough. "I can't prioritize the Sabbath fans making one show more important than the other. I can't do that. All of you are important. It's all the gigs or none at all."
Bill's team asked the band whether the negotiations were at an end on May 9th,. The next day, the band's representative confirmed it was over.
"In my opinion, nobody wins this time; the band doesn't win; the fans for an original lineup don't win," wrote Bill. "Nobody wins. Even the ones who thought they did."
While Bill remains open to a fair contract to perform in the original lineup, it looks like this chapter in Black Sabbath's history is closed. Sadly, it could also be their last.

In the end, it's gonna be a couple of Sabbath dates and the rest "Ozzy & Friends".
Well, it made me happy for a couple of weeks last year when the news of a full-on Sabbath reunion broke. Looks like that's all I'm gonna get out of it.

the band would only let him join their homecoming show if he played for free.

Offering to play for free is a good deed.
Being told you have to or you're out of the band is a cu ntish move by the rest of the band. And by the rest of the band I probably only mean Ozzy.
Don't think I'll go support them at Download this year. Best wishes to Iommi though.

I've seen a lot of people lately who don't even think the rhythm section even matters, and who are going to these shows essentially to say they saw Ozzy first, Iommi second. Which I find funny; if Iommi truly carried Sabbath on his back and was a lone wolf in writing genius music, people would hold Eternal Idol or Tyr at the same level as their classic Ozzy/Dio material.

I don't completely understand what is going on here, either. It seems like the other band members would be stoked to have Bill on board. I know he's suffered health problems, in the past, and, like Ozzy, Geezer, and Tony, is also getting up in his years....but....Why would they just expect him to be pushed around like that?
It seems Bill was always the one to get the shaft, after all these years. I suppose they expected him to just go along with it. I don't know, but I don't support this 'reunion' if Bill Ward is not on stage. I just don't. It's not Black Sabbath without Bill.

Abacus11 wrote:
That's too bad. They're probably going to have Vinny Appice on drums now... who's ok and can play Ward's parts (and his own) but he won't be nearly as good to write and record with as Ward if they do end up making a new record.

Vinny is currently playing in a band called Kill Devil Hill with Rex Brown of Pantera fame. [Opening for them, this Friday. Stoked.] He has already declined the offer to join them, if they ask.

I don't think Sharon should entirely take all the flack for this, Tony Iommi's/Black Sabbath's management have been known to make some pretty harsh deals for the past 25-30 years. This possibly explains Bill and Geezer's drifting in and out of post Ozzy line ups.
The crooks of it all really is that Tony Iommi IS Black Sabbath and has been through the good and bad times, and I will be watching him at Download, whether he has Bill, Vinny or a Quadriplegic behind the drums.

You know I recently seen an interview with dio about right after he got kicked out of sabbath after the dehumanizer album. Basically he was talking about how Ozzy has an insane amount of power over the band, even when they weren't with him, and he shit talks to them all the time to.
Interviews here (starts talking about it at 2:15):

It's possible it might have something to do with his health. He was only offered a contract to play 3 songs at Download and they offered to let him play at Birmingham to "see how it went", it sounds to me that they might be worried he isn't up to it all. Btw I've heard that Tommy Clufetos is the guy going to playing Download and playing on the new album too, as sad as it sounds

Iommianity wrote:
I've seen a lot of people lately who don't even think the rhythm section even matters, and who are going to these shows essentially to say they saw Ozzy first, Iommi second. Which I find funny; if Iommi truly carried Sabbath on his back and was a lone wolf in writing genius music, people would hold Eternal Idol or Tyr at the same level as their classic Ozzy/Dio material.

I completely agree with you.
Geezer and Bill are my favorite rhythm section and also my favorite bassist and drummer respectively.
Original line-up had that undeniable chemistry which gave birth to one of my favorite genres of music.

So hang on, I'm assuming he would be the only member of the band to play for free, assuming he'd agreed to that? And the other guys woulda got some sort of payment?
Cos when i first read this article, I figured they were all gonna be playing free. Very naive, perhaps.
But if they're getting paid and he wasn't offered shit for his time, then good on him, and shame on the other guys!

I still don't understand why there's comments about Sharon on here. Black Sabbath is Tony's band, and if you read any past interviews from musicians he's worked with, he does this to everyone. His lawyers write up a contract in which you receive no money and no credit so that you have no control over anything in the band.
I love Iommi as a guitarist, but sorta hate his personality. Even with all this drama, I still can't wait to see them live. Sure it's lessened without Will Ward, but I guarantee I'll still end up with nosebleed seats.

That's too bad. They're probably going to have Vinny Appice on drums now... who's ok and can play Ward's parts (and his own) but he won't be nearly as good to write and record with as Ward if they do end up making a new record.

ZWH wrote:
I totally understand Bill in this situation. Black Sabbath without anyone from the original line-up isn't Black Sabbath.
lars17 wrote:
Whats so hard about giving him 25%? Why is this a problem all of a sudden after 43 years? I don't get it.
This.